How Much Did Global Airline Traffic Rebound in 2022?

New data found that total traffic in 2022 was up compared to the previous year, but was still at less than 70 percent of pre-pandemic totals.

According to a survey from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) increased by 64.4 last year when compared to 2021, but traffic only reached 68.5 percent of 2019 totals.

In December, the IATA study found that total traffic rose 39.7 percent compared to last year. The December 2022 traffic also reached 76.9 percent of the December 2019 level.

“The industry left 2022 in far stronger shape than it entered, as most governments lifted COVID-19 travel restrictions during the year and people took advantage of the restoration of their freedom to travel,” IATA Director General Willie Walsh said.

North American carriers reported a 130.2 percent annual traffic rise in 2022 compared to the previous year. Capacity increased by 71.3 percent and load factor climbed 20.7 points to 80.8 percent.

Traffic rose 61.3 percent in December compared to the year-ago period.

“This momentum is expected to continue in the New Year, despite some governments’ over-reactions to China’s reopening,” Walsh continued.

With the reopening of China, international traffic climbed 152.7 percent year-over-year and reached 62.2 percent of 2019 levels. December totals rose 80.2 percent over the previous December, reaching 75.1 percent of the level from December 2019.

Domestic traffic increased by 10.9 percent compared to the prior year, reaching 79.6 percent of the full-year 2019 level. December traffic was up 2.6 percent and 79.9 percent of December 2019 traffic.

Latin American airlines posted a 119.2 percent traffic rise in 2022 over 2021. Annual capacity climbed 93.3 percent and load factor increased 9.7 percentage points to 82.2 percent, the highest among the regions.